Ever since he started Message With A Bottle, Chris Illuminati's primary plan has been to mimic his fitness regime and persevere as incrementally as possible. Eight hundred notes later, he has built a multi-vertical platform comprising books, podcasts, calendars, his own branded lines of Post-It Notes from 3M, and a huge Instagram following.

We talk about subtle ways to motivate your kids, the underappreciated beauty of a good pen, and his formative years hanging out in his father's bar.